Music’s serial big mouth Morrissey, the former frontman of The Smiths, is at it again. In between suing the BBC to stop them playing a 20 second excerpt of him singing without backing music, branding the Chinese as a ‘subspecies’, and performing at the wedding of Russell Brand & Katy Perry he’s somehow found the time to sue British music rag NME for making him look like a racist in an interview in 2007.
A few years have passed since he launched legal action and now Britain’s most senior libel judge is considering whether to grant Morrissey a high court trial before a jury. His judgement is expected to be handed down in a few weeks. If granted a jury trail it will be the first in Britain in over 2 years.
In the interview in question Morrissey is quoted as saying that “the gates of England are flooded. The country’s been thrown away. With the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.”
Morrissey and his legal team contend that NME deliberately misrepresented his comments to make him appear to sound racist; a taint that has followed him ever since. They do not deny that Morrissey made those statements however.
“[The allegations are] still a matter of public record,” Morrissey’s lawyer said. “They are part of music lore. That’s why vindication is so important.” Lawyers for NME have asked for the court action to be “struck out”. The case continues.
